The C# Developer’s CURL Copy-Paste Conundrum

Bridging Bash and .NET: Harnessing CurlDotNet for Linux-Compatible REST API Magic

It’s 2 AM on deployment night, and I’m staring at a cURL example from Stripe’s docs.

You know the moment — a dozen browser tabs open, half-written unit tests, and now I’m translating a curl command into C#. Again.

API docs everywhere default to curl. Stripe, GitHub, Twilio, OpenAI — they all hand you a Bash-friendly snippet and expect you to mentally map:

• -H becomes a header object
• -d becomes JSON content
• -u becomes basic auth
• Oh, and don’t forget that one weird header that silently breaks everything if you miss it

If you’re building C# apps on Linux, the friction gets real. We love Bash. We love .NET. But the two ecosystems don’t always shake hands naturally.

This article is about fixing that — bringing Bash and C# into harmony for Linux-friendly REST API work. And CurlDotNet is our bridge.

Bash & cURL: The DevOps Native Language

Bash and cURL are the lingua franca of API examples. Every service uses them because:

• They run anywhere with POSIX tools
• They prototype APIs fast
• They work beautifully on Linux servers, containers, pipelines
• You can copy, paste, tweak, and run instantly

On Linux, cURL is the closest thing to a universal API client.

The C# Reality

C# has fantastic HTTP libraries — but historically, .NET lived on Windows.

Now we have .NET 6+, container workflows, VS Code, and Linux-native tooling.

Still, the cultures differ:

• Bash users prefer pipes, one-liners, and curl
• C# devs prefer structure, classes, SDKs, and types

CurlDotNet brings them together so you can enjoy both.

Look at any major developer-focused platform:

• Stripe – curl everywhere for payments
• GitHub – curl examples for repositories, issues, workflows
• Twilio – curl for SMS, calls, verification
• OpenAI – curl for every model example
• Kubernetes – its API is REST; curl is the norm
• Postman – often shows curl right next to its collection links

If you want to follow the tutorial exactly as written, you’re starting with Bash.

.NET is now a fully cross-platform citizen:

• Runs on Linux servers
• Plays nicely inside Docker
• Works in CI/CD pipelines
• Talks natively to POSIX tooling where needed

A Linux-friendly approach to API calls means:

• Your code works on the same machines that run your scripts
• You can mix Bash and C# without translating mental models
• DevOps pipelines become simpler and more maintainable

Any solution — including CurlDotNet — needs to honor that.

What It Is

CurlDotNet is a .NET library that lets you:

Paste curl commands directly into C# and run them.

No translation.

No re-writing into HttpClient.

No forgetting headers.

No “why does this example work in Bash but break in C#?”

You paste this:

bash
curl -X POST https://api.stripe.com/v1/charges \
  -u sk_test_123: \
  -d amount=2000 \
  -d currency=usd